Do men ever get Breast Cancer?

Although men do not breast like females, they have a small amount of breast tissue. Breasts of adult men are similar to breasts of girls before puberty. This tissue grows and develops in females but not in men. However, as it still is a breast tissue, men can suffer from breast cancer too. Men can get the same kinds of breast cancers which women do, however, cancers comprising the part which make & store milk are the rare ones.

Are men more likely to suffer from breast cancer?

Getting a breast cancer is rare for men below 35 years of age. Then chances of a male getting a breast cancer rise with age. Most of the male breast cancers happen to males between 60 -70 years of age.  Other risk factors of breast cancer for men include:-

• Breast cancer in close woman relative
• Gynecomastia or breast enlargement from hormone or drug treatments, or even some poisons or infections.
• History of radiation exposure to chest
• Taking estrogen
• Klinefelter’s syndrome or a rare genetic condition
• Severe disease of liver called cirrhosis
• Testicle diseases like mumps orchitis, an undescended testicle or a testicular injury.

Seriousness of breast cancer in males

Initially, doctors thought that a male breast cancer is more severe than the female ones but now it has been found realized that they are both similarly serious.

The major issue is breast cancer in males is often diagnosed very late than the breast cancer of women. This is due to the fact that men do not expect this to happen to them in that area. The small breast tissues of men are also harder to feel making it tough to identify cancer early. This also means that tumors could spread more speedily to the surrounding tissues.

Symptoms of breast cancer in men

Symptoms of a breast cancer for males are similar to the breast cancer in females. Most of the male breast cancers are investigated when men discover a lump on their chest. Unlike a woman, a man tends to procrastinate visiting a doctor until he gets more severe symptoms such as bleeding nipple. At that juncture, the cancer is more likely to have already spread.